would you move from AU to Woodley for Oyster?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To the 13:44 poster, where did your child go for 7th grade? I heard that the school becomes disorganized starting at the 5th grade.

My child is an elementary student at Oyster-Adams, so I can't speak to the post-5th situation from personal experience. I can say that many of my child's classmates' older siblings have transferred to Deal because at the moment the larger school offers a broader range of experiences. I can also tell you that we are happier with my child's upper-elementary class at Adams than we had been in lower grades at Oyster. (For us, the improvements have been more serious efforts to differentiate lessons for high students and a generally more parent-friendly school environment thanks to the "new" principal.)

I have personal experience with three often-discussed NW elementaries. Faced with some real discrepancies between my own observations and the opinions perpetuated by the rumor mill, I've come to believe that a lot of nonsense gets repeated second- and third- hand at soccer practice or posted on this site, then accepted as gospel. Take whatever you hear or read with a grain of salt.

[Anonymous]

We were shopping for homes in NW and were making our decision based on schools. We had the $$ for Janney, Oyster, Lafayette, and Murch. Chose Oyster hands-down. I disagree that Janney is "better" other than language immersion. I don't really know how you would measure that. The schools are really, really different. If you like the straightforward school model, Lafayette, Janney, Murch, Mann, Eaton, and Hyde (plus many others) are all good. Oyster is its own animal, and if you want it, you want it. I was already in favor of Oyster but wouldn't have chosen Janney right now because of the construction. What a pain.

But they're both kid and your kid will thrive in and enjoy both.

I really like Oyster's new principal, for what it's worth. She has her s--- together, and by the time my young kid is in the intermediate campus, it's going to be great.

[Anonymous]

13:44 here. To another school (not sure why which one is relevant). Fifth and Sixth were great for my child. I'm not sure how things are now or to what grade the new model goes. I do think it's really, really hard to compete with what schools like Deal and Hardy offer. And of course some families go private.

[Anonymous]

@13:50 - Sra. Aguirre is certainly a competent administrator. She has by and large smoothed the wrinkles involved in the transition to a PK-8 campus. As to her being disorganized in an open house, she is very organized when she meets with parents, both formally and informally. One thing I've noticed, since my child is looking at both DCPS high schools and private high schools, is that the DCPS open houses tend to be more disorganized as a rule. While I initially thought that it was because the DCPS schools didn't care, because they didn't have to recruit, several friends who have kids in both DCPS and private schools pointed out to me that the privates have development staffs and admissions groups that organize the open houses, while DCPS schools don't have that function. It helped me feel a bit better about the reaction I was having, similar to yours, that if the open house was so disorganized, what did that say about the school.

[Anonymous]

I don't know, I've been to a lot of GREAT dcps open houses this year and last. I thought many were really impressive.

[Anonymous]

Would not do Oyster. Former parent and it is nothing like Murch., Hyde, etc. Just overcrowded and disorganized. There are big differences in how the "have nots" are treated by the parents/student who "have". The "have's" I believe are only there because their children couldn't get into Sidwell, Maret, etc. It was a solid back-up (or alteast I thought it was) when we didn't get accepted the first time into private. Thankfully, at third grade DC was accpeted into private.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:@13:50 - Sra. Aguirre is certainly a competent administrator. She has by and large smoothed the wrinkles involved in the transition to a PK-8 campus. As to her being disorganized in an open house, she is very organized when she meets with parents, both formally and informally. One thing I've noticed, since my child is looking at both DCPS high schools and private high schools, is that the DCPS open houses tend to be more disorganized as a rule. While I initially thought that it was because the DCPS schools didn't care, because they didn't have to recruit, several friends who have kids in both DCPS and private schools pointed out to me that the privates have development staffs and admissions groups that organize the open houses, while DCPS schools don't have that function. It helped me feel a bit better about the reaction I was having, similar to yours, that if the open house was so disorganized, what did that say about the school.

I went to open houses at both Oyster and Eaton and the Oyster open house was TERRIBLE. They seemed to be expecting only about 10 people when they had closer to 100. We wasted 15 minutes while they tried to find chairs for everyone and another 20 minutes while they tried to find staff who could take people around the building. They sheepishly said they'd scheduled the open house on a day when most of the staff was at the Adams campus so it was hard to find anyone. It seems like a) an RSVP system and b) lining up staff beforehand could have mitigated both of those problems. Sra. Aguirre came across as condescending when answering a lot of the questions and seemed impatient. There was a sense that she felt a lot of people there were out-of-boundary with little chance of getting in so it was all a colossal waste of her time.

Eaton, in contrast, was great. The principal had a PowerPoint presentation that highlighted the accomplishments and ongoing challenges at the school. She spoke candidly about funding and testing issues and shared her strong vision for the school. There were four or five current Eaton parents on hand to answer questions and lead tours and they provided some great insights. (Oyster didn't have any parents on hand).

[Anonymous]

I think Oyster parents have put up with a lot of chaos for years because of the perceived benefits of the language program. It's a school that has been trying to figure out what it wants to be for years (we started in 2000, so my institutional memory spans a decade). There are many wonderful teachers there, and the parent community is tops, but the school has never reached its potential. I think its reputation is exaggerated. That said, I'm glad we did it.

To a previous poster: I do not believe there are a lot of students at Oyster who are there because they did not get into Sidwell, Maret or GDS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:@13:50 - Sra. Aguirre is certainly a competent administrator. She has by and large smoothed the wrinkles involved in the transition to a PK-8 campus. As to her being disorganized in an open house, she is very organized when she meets with parents, both formally and informally. One thing I've noticed, since my child is looking at both DCPS high schools and private high schools, is that the DCPS open houses tend to be more disorganized as a rule. While I initially thought that it was because the DCPS schools didn't care, because they didn't have to recruit, several friends who have kids in both DCPS and private schools pointed out to me that the privates have development staffs and admissions groups that organize the open houses, while DCPS schools don't have that function. It helped me feel a bit better about the reaction I was having, similar to yours, that if the open house was so disorganized, what did that say about the school.

I went to open houses at both Oyster and Eaton and the Oyster open house was TERRIBLE. They seemed to be expecting only about 10 people when they had closer to 100. We wasted 15 minutes while they tried to find chairs for everyone and another 20 minutes while they tried to find staff who could take people around the building. They sheepishly said they'd scheduled the open house on a day when most of the staff was at the Adams campus so it was hard to find anyone. It seems like a) an RSVP system and b) lining up staff beforehand could have mitigated both of those problems. Sra. Aguirre came across as condescending when answering a lot of the questions and seemed impatient. There was a sense that she felt a lot of people there were out-of-boundary with little chance of getting in so it was all a colossal waste of her time.

Eaton, in contrast, was great. The principal had a PowerPoint presentation that highlighted the accomplishments and ongoing challenges at the school. She spoke candidly about funding and testing issues and shared her strong vision for the school. There were four or five current Eaton parents on hand to answer questions and lead tours and they provided some great insights. (Oyster didn't have any parents on hand).

The worst thing about this year's open house at Oyster was that IT WAS EXACTLY THE SAME AS LAST YEAR'S. Right down to the missing chairs and staff members. Last year, I gave the principal a pass because it was her first year. To have learned nothing from that experience, though, is inexcusable.

In contrast, it sounds like Eaton's principal has dramatically improved on what came across as a pretty weak improv performance last year. Kudos to her.

[Anonymous]

Oyster's open house seems to simply reflect the disorganization of the school I see daily. Thankfully my child has a good teacher. Not sure what we will do next year. Will do OOB applications to other schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Would not do Oyster. Former parent and it is nothing like Murch., Hyde, etc. Just overcrowded and disorganized. There are big differences in how the "have nots" are treated by the parents/student who "have". The "have's" I believe are only there because their children couldn't get into Sidwell, Maret, etc. It was a solid back-up (or alteast I thought it was) when we didn't get accepted the first time into private. Thankfully, at third grade DC was accpeted into private.

I totally disagree with this characterization. It looks like you've projected your own failure to get into your first choice on to everybody else. Some of us really want a language immersion opportunity, without having to move to Fairfax County!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:@13:50 - Sra. Aguirre is certainly a competent administrator. She has by and large smoothed the wrinkles involved in the transition to a PK-8 campus. As to her being disorganized in an open house, she is very organized when she meets with parents, both formally and informally. One thing I've noticed, since my child is looking at both DCPS high schools and private high schools, is that the DCPS open houses tend to be more disorganized as a rule. While I initially thought that it was because the DCPS schools didn't care, because they didn't have to recruit, several friends who have kids in both DCPS and private schools pointed out to me that the privates have development staffs and admissions groups that organize the open houses, while DCPS schools don't have that function. It helped me feel a bit better about the reaction I was having, similar to yours, that if the open house was so disorganized, what did that say about the school.

I went to open houses at both Oyster and Eaton and the Oyster open house was TERRIBLE. They seemed to be expecting only about 10 people when they had closer to 100. We wasted 15 minutes while they tried to find chairs for everyone and another 20 minutes while they tried to find staff who could take people around the building. They sheepishly said they'd scheduled the open house on a day when most of the staff was at the Adams campus so it was hard to find anyone. It seems like a) an RSVP system and b) lining up staff beforehand could have mitigated both of those problems. Sra. Aguirre came across as condescending when answering a lot of the questions and seemed impatient. There was a sense that she felt a lot of people there were out-of-boundary with little chance of getting in so it was all a colossal waste of her time.

Eaton, in contrast, was great. The principal had a PowerPoint presentation that highlighted the accomplishments and ongoing challenges at the school. She spoke candidly about funding and testing issues and shared her strong vision for the school. There were four or five current Eaton parents on hand to answer questions and lead tours and they provided some great insights. (Oyster didn't have any parents on hand).

Funny, Chancellor Rhee appointed Aguirre to 'turn around the school' and 'close the achievement gap' and 'reach out to all parents' based on a proven track record as the most qualified person to run a bilingual school (she ran a charter in AZ, and I would love to see info. about whether that school was a success story under her guidance. Anyone know?). Oyster was a Blue Ribbon winner a year before Aguirre. It was not perfect, but it does not sound like it is today either. Anyhow.

[Anonymous]

I doubt it. If it were, I would think Rhee would make sure those numbers got trumpeted. I think Grades Six and higher are losing a lot of top students to Deal. Not all! But enough to make me wonder if that's dragging down the test scores.

[Anonymous]

The year before Oyster merged with Adams it was a blue ribbon award winner. Not based on the highest test scores in the city, but based on the fact that while it has an achievement gap, its Latino and AA students who make up a significant portion of the school were scoring significantly better than in many other schools in the city. Something to be proud of. When Oyster merged with the Adams campus it admitted existing students from Adams, a sub-performing school with dwindling population that was closed and absorbed into Oyster (this was highly politicized and not pleasant for the families of Adams of course, almost all of whom were out of boundary but had formed a strong identity as a group and wanted to 'save their school'). However, they were offered places at Oyster and some stayed, especially at the emerging Middle School level. The transition thus took on the complexity of adding on a Middle School component with existing Oyster students (7th grade the first year), bringing on new students who had not had the same preparation as Oyster students, and one principal (Guzman) managing two campuses (Much as Rhee recently proposed the Hyde principal do with Hardy). Add on a core group of parents who were anti-Guzman and a Chancellor who wanted to sweep a broom and a logical dip in test scores the first transition year -- Rhee held up the dip and existing though smaller than average achievement gap as a defect that and a key reason to fire Snr. Guzman. She also made claims as to how her kids, who entered late, weren't learning Spanish etc. etc. Then she brought in Aguirre to 'fix' all this. She found support from core group of parents whom she dined with (most of whom--I am going to say the ugly truth-have now left for Deal) and in a letter issued by the teacher reps in the school saying they supported the move. What never came out fully in the ensuing fracas is that these elected reps acted on the fact that they were elected and had 'representative ability' to issue this formal letter--WITHOUT polling each teacher--so it may or may not have reflected the majority opinion of faculty. Many were upset at a) not being polled and b) at the sense that instability begets instability and in the midst of a transition and growing the school it was simply not the right time to change leadership--no matter how unpopular Guzman might be. However, it was reprinted in 'papers' and became 'truth'.

Now Aguirre is in her second year at the school. Guzman was admittedly polarizing but colorful. Aguirre is a sort of cool, 'list' person. She doesn't seem to have much fire, and in all honesty, I think fire is what helped make Oyster fun--and offset some of the annoying aspects of the chaos which is for better or worse synonymous with Oyster culture. People who have been part of Oyster for years roll their eyes at the chaos but kind of liked it, like one big, dysfunctional ongoing family wedding--it was odd, but kind of freeing and fun. For Aguirre to change the chaos, and then change the culture, and still keep it 'Oyster' is a big task and I think a lot of people are reacting to the fact that it is still chaotic, but kind of less 'fun'. The DC-CAS scores have continued to dip and last year the school did not make AYP for the second year running.

Rhee showed huge ignorance of the achievement gap (a DC and NATIONAL problem that experts have been working on for 30 plus years) by touting Oyster of all places as an example of its egregiousness, and then bringing in her untested protege to 'fix it'--not that closing the achievement gap is an unworthy goal, but she might have given credit that its a lot better at Oyster than just about anywhere else and then built on Oyster's strengths to make it even better instead of her sort of systematically dismantling tack that she constantly seems to take. She also showed great ignorance of bilingual pedagogy by her assumptions that her children were not 'learning' Spanish in their first year at the school and running around all chicken little. There is so much debate about what a bilingual education leads to, what skills a child emerges with, the fact that there is a long wobbly period before facility in both languages gels, the fact that there is no such thing as 'balanced' bilingualism--anyway, her remarks on the achievement gap and bilingualism at Oyster were so basically uninformed--a surface read of data combined with the anecdotal--any social scientist would shudder! that it made me at the time question what criteria exactly she would use as a starting point for a search for new leadership who would wave the wand and fix everything. Was her search based on pedagogical knowledge? A proven track record? Expertise? Was her new leadership provided ample support to gear up and steer a school in, basically, crisis to a new beginning? I personally think Aguirre was thrown into the fire of a very difficult school to run, and, without the acknowledgment from admin central that revamping Oyster while growing a school would be a massive task for anyone, is finding it just as hard as the last lady. Finally, I do find it disturbing that Aguirre's husband is a high level Rhee staffer. I wonder how much weight that received in the hiring formula.

[Anonymous]

I agree with the 10:41 poster. It is a tough job that Aguirre stepped into. But let's face it, she is a grown-up and she chose it. She knew the stakes before making the decision (with an insider perspective) which is more than I can say for many new principals in the system. I don't think she is doing a horrible job by any means, it just isn't impressive. I chose Oyster because I thought it would be much more impressive than it has turned out to be. I still think it has the potential - perhaps with some new energy.